Posts by wesadmin

This is a typical older home on Santa Rosa Island—built on a concrete slab at ground level. Below, the home after being raised above the expected flood level on pilings that allow waves and storm surge to flow beneath the structure. Courtesy Santa Rosa Island Authority CRS works at Higher Levels for Santa Rosa Island “I’m always looking for the credit points to get us to the next class,” says Paolo Ghio, Director of Development…

The Toby Lane Development in Boulder, Colorado, remained undamaged in the 2013 flooding because the homes were elevated 2 feet above the base flood elevation. Courtesy City of Boulder. CRS Helps Boulder, Colorado, Build Resilience As the state’s number-one community for flash flood risk, Boulder, Colorado, is no stranger to flood hazard mitigation. The city has a long history of floodplain management planning, dating back to a plan designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead in the early…

Stormwater Management is Where it all Begins for Las Vegas The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, is almost 630,000 people—and it the past it has almost doubled every 10 years. “Explosive growth is a fact of life that is critical to planning and protecting our community from flood hazards. It points to the challenge we face in keeping our flood hazard maps up to date and avoiding problems from drainage runoff,” says Peter Jackson, Senior…

Lake County, Illinois, Builds Partnerships and Capability Partnerships are the crux of floodplain management in unincorporated Lake County, Illinois, and that starts with the local CRS program itself. The County uses a “CRS Program Committee,” a three-person team made up of Mea Blauer, Plan Review Specialist; Eric Steffen, Senior Engineer; and Brian Frank, Senior Engineer. “This gives us diversity of experience,” says Blauer. The County believes that its CRS success is due to this team…

Major Flood brings Major Reduction in Vulnerability Grand Forks, North Dakota, lies on the exceedingly flat floodplain where the Red River of the North and the Red Lake River join. A large proportion of the City lies within the Special Flood Hazard Area. Flooding happens there as a result of any one—or a combination—of factors. The Red River flows northward, into Canada, into channels that are sometimes still blocked by winter snow and ice. Sometimes…

CRS Helps Pull it All Together for Gloucester County “The Community Rating System serves us as a comprehensive program aid,” observes Paul Koll, Building Code and Floodplain Management Official for Gloucester County, Virginia. “Because it is point driven, it helps us stay focused on the tasks we want to undertake and we can see results. This is critical when you are trying to pull a lot of activities together and trying to get local officials…

Ottawa, Illinois, Reduces Flood Losses with CRS “The City of Ottawa truly has benefited from the Community Rating System,” confirms Mike Sutfin, Building and Zoning Official and Floodplain Manager for the City. Of the potential flood losses in the community, he estimates that 40% are prevented because of Ottawa’s participation in the CRS. “The things in the CRS really do work,” he says. The 12-square-mile community lies in north-central Illinois at the confluence of the…

Being in the CRS makes County’s Program Even Broader “We were doing a lot of floodplain management work before joining the Community Rating System,” says Andrew Braun, Planner for unincorporated Peoria County, Illinois. “Now we are adding a step or two to many of those things to get maximum benefit from the CRS.” The County’s 630 square miles are situated in north-central Illinois and are subject to flooding mostly from the Illinois River and Kickapoo…

One of the natural functions of floodplains is the provision of habitat. A sign along a bayou near Pasadena, Texas, reminds visitors that wildlife are at home here. Photo courtesy City of Pasadena CRS Community uses Public Outreach—and Public Reaches Back “The Community Rating System has motivated everyone in our community to help reduce flooding,” says Luz Locke, Environmental Services Coordinator for Pasadena, Texas, a city with a population of 144,000 within the Houston metropolitan…

A home in the process of being elevated after the 2013 flood. The homeowners elected to proceed with elevation on their own, assisted by an Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) payment from their flood insurance policy. Photo courtesy Village of Lisle Floodplains become a Plus for Lisle, Illinois As one of the first communities to join the Community Rating System (in 1991), the Village of Lisle, Illinois, already had a good idea of how to manage its…